Coupling



T. WHITE.

COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5, 1918.

1,336,326, Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

INVENTOR WITN ESSES ATTOH N EY THOMAS WHITE, OF TALMAG-E, KENTUCKY.

COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application filed October 5, 1918. Serial No. 257,076.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WHITE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at 'lalmage, in the county ofMercer and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the rolling stock for railways, and moreespecially to the couplings employed between cars; and the object of thesame is to produce .an 1mproved coupling of the pin and link type andwhich will work successfully in conjunction with the link of an ordinarycar coupling on another car.

A further object is to produce a coupling of this type in which the pincan be raised to uncouple the same by any suitable means and from aremote point.

A third object is to provide means for holding the pin raised at alltimes and therefore throwing the coupling out of action temporarily.

Other objects will appear as the following specification develo )s, andreference is made to the drawings, w erein:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of this coupling as a whole,

Fig. 2 is a centrallongitudinal sectional view, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the latch showing the latter in dottedlines as turned aside.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the. dog per 86.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of the portion of themechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 with the pin removed. a

The draw bar B has an enlarged head H at its front end, the same beingprovided with a mouth M as usual, and into this mouth is adapted to beprojected a link (not shown) forming part of a companion car coupling orpart of an ordinary car coupling which. uses such a link. The object ofthe present invention is to produce a pin coupling for such a link, withmeans whereby the pin is automatically raised by the entrance of thelink and then dropped into it, but cannot be raised to uncouple from thelink without manual effort. Coming now to the details of the presentinvention, a skeleton framework 1 is erected on the upper side of thedraw head and is pierced with a hole 2 in line with similar holesthrough the top and bottom of the head H, and in which moves a pin 3having an enlargement or collar at at about its midlength and a link oreye 5 at its upper end and to which may be attached a chain or cord forraising the pin to uncouple it from'the link. Pivoted at 6 on the top ofthe framework is a plate 7 having a notch 8 constituting a latch, thesame being held in normal position by a spring catch 9 as shown in Fig.1 but capable of being turned aside when this catch is raised, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 3. At this time the pin 3 may be raised and itscollar at lifted through the hole 2, after which the latch may be swungback to the position shown in full lines, and therefore the pin willremain in elevated position irrespective of the parts yet to bedescribed.

Hingedly mounted at 10 in the top of the mouth M is a plate 11 extendingnormally obliquely downward and rearward and intended to be struck bythe approaching link (not shown)-, and the lower end of this plate isconnected by a pair of links 12 with a dog 13 standing above the drawhead H and in rear of the pin 8. The links reach this dog throughopenings 14. in the top of the draw head, and they extend through theseopenings on opposite sides of the pin as will be clear. The dog has atits rear side a headed stud 15 traveling in an upright slot which isformed in a guide 16 constituting part of the framework 1 as best seenin Fig. 1. The dog may also carry a loop 17 which incloses a boss 18rising from the draw head at the forward side of the pin, and on whichboss rests the collar 4 when the parts stand in their normal position asseen in Fig. 2. This boss is cut away at its rear side so that the dognormally underlies the collar. Now when a link approaches and strikesthe plate 11, the parts swing as the hinges 10 permit, and the links 12cause the dog to rise, its headed stud traveling in the slotted guide1.6. The dog engaging beneath the collar 4; pushes the pin upward, itslower end rising to permit the entrance of the link and the collarfinally reaching the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Meansmust now be provided to trip the dog from beneath the collar, andtherefore we come to the next feature of the invention.

Upstanding from the rear portion of the dog is a tail 20 which, when thedog is moved upward is projected into a loop 21 carried at the upper endof a rock lever 22.

The latter is pivoted at 23 within the framework, and its upper end isborne normally forward by a spring 24:. Its lower end is connected by alink 25 with another rock lever 26 pivoted at 27 within an opening inthe rear portion of the draw head H, and therefore as the link entersthe latter its inner end pushes on this rock lever 26, the link 25causes reverse movement of the upper rock lever 22, and the loop 21 ismoved to the rear just at a time when the tail 2O stands within thesame. The result is that the dog is turned on its pivotal connectionwith the two links 12, and is withdrawn from beneath the collar 4; andtherefore the pin may now descend when its lower end will pass throughthe inner end of the link while the latter at this time of course standswell within the opening in the draw head H.

Therefore the coupling action of this device is entirely automatic.Uncoupling is done by raising the pin manually by means connected withthe link or eye 5 at its upper end. I have already explained how the pincan be raised and held raised by means of the latch 7, when it isdesired to throw the automatic features of this device out of action.The parts are of the desired proportions and materials, and changes indetails can be made without departing from the principle of thisinvention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a car coupling, the combination with a vertically movable pinmounted through the draw head and having a collar at its mid-length, aframework superposed upon the draw head and having a guide for the upperend of said pin and an upright slotted member adjacent said pin, and alatch movably mounted on the top of-the framework and adapted to engagebeneath said collar when the pin is raised; of a dog having a headedstud slidably mounted within said slot, the dog normally underlying saidcollar, means for causing the rise of the dog by the entry of the linkin the mouth of the draw head, and means for tilting the dog todisengage it from the collar after the pin has been raised.

2. In a car coupling, the combination with a draw head having an uprightpin-opening and other openings at the sides thereof, a pin mountedslidably in the pin-opening and having a collar above the draw head, anda framework superposed upon the head and having an upright guide; of aplate hinged within the mouth of the draw head, a pair of linksextending from the plate upward through the side openings astride thepin, a dog slidably mounted within said guide and normally underlyingsaid collar, the upper ends of said links being pivoted to the dog, andmeans for tilting the latter when it has reached its highest limit ofmovement, for the purpose set forth.

and having an upright guide; of a plate:

hinged within the mouth of the draw head, a pair of links extending fromthe plate upward through the side openings astride the pin, a dogpivoted to the upper ends of said links and normally underlying thecollar, the dog having a headed stud moving in said guide and anupstanding tail,

and mechanism actuated by the insertion of a link into the mouth of thedraw head for drawing on said tail to tilt the dog, for the purpose setforth.

4. In a car coupling, the combination with a draw head having an uprightpin-opening and other openings at the sides thereof, a pin mountedslidably in the pin-opening and having a collar above the draw head, anda framework superposed upon the head and having an upright guide; of aplate hinged within the mouth of the draw head, a pair of linksextending from the plate upward through the side openings astride thepin, a dog pivoted to the upper ends of said links and normallyunderlying the collar, the dog having a headed stud moving in said guideand an upstanding tail, a loop at the upper end of said guide and intowhich said tail is adapted to be projected when the collar is raised, arocking lever carrying said loop, and mechanism at the rear of the mouthof the draw head for actuating said rocking lever by the entry 'of thelink, the whole for action substantially as described.

5. In a car coupling of the type described, the combination with askeleton framework mounted on the draw head and having an uprightslotted guide, a pin movable through said framework and through the drawhead and having a collar at its midlength, a tilting dog normallystanding beneath said collar and movably mounted within said guide, thedoghaving an upstanding tail, and mechanism within the mouth of the drawhead for raising said dog by the projection of a link thereinto; of arock lever pivoted within said framework and having a loop at its upperend adapted to be engaged by said tail, a second rock lever mountedwithin the rear portion of said mouth and adapted to be actuated by thelink, and connections between said rock levers for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS WHITE.

Witnesses:

NELL NORTON, Mrs. V. B. CARTER.

